Surgical masks are known in which ear loops attached to the sides of the mask are intended to be engaged over the ears of the user while the body of the mask is fitted over the nose and mouth of the user. Although such masks are designated as "surgical" masks, it is to be understood that they are not limited to such use but are adapted for much wider general usage wherever a mask of filter material is to be worn.
The attachment of such loops to the mask material poses a problem in the manufacture and use of the mask since in the application of the ear loops on the ears of the user, substantial tearing forces are developed on the mask material. If the mask material is paper, it is frequently torn rendering the mask unusable. The problem is accentuated when the ear loops are made of elastic material.
It has been known to sew the ear loops onto the masks and this is a slow unreliable procedure which produces a large percentage of rejects since the operation is dependent on the skill of the particular operator. It is difficult for the operator to manually place the ear loop material on the mask material to affix the same by stitching on a sewing machine and the attachment is unreliable.
Another approach has been to continuously form the ear loop material as a chain stitch and to weave the chain stitch onto the side edges of the mask proximate the upper and lower longitudinal edges while leaving the chain stitch material free in an intermediate region, this free length of chain stitch material serving as the ear loops proper. However, this has not proven satisfactory as the chain stitch material lacks the necessary elasticity required for the ear loops. If the chain stitch material is elastic, then it cannot provide the necessary anchoring to the mask material to resist the pulling forces developed when the ear loops are stretched around the ears of the user.